Crosswalk.com aims to offer the most compelling biblically-based content to Christians on their walk with Jesus. Crosswalk.com is your online destination for all areas of Christian Living – faith, family, fun, and community. Each category is further divided into areas important to you and your Christian faith including Bible study, daily devotions, marriage, parenting, movie reviews, music, news, and more.

31 Days of Prayer - Day 2

Lyn is a wife, mother and yes, a former beauty queen. But don't let the title fool you, she's just a country girl at heart. And that heart is for women to get into the Bible! Lyn has a zeal for God's Word that is contagious. She has written and taught Bible Studies for over 10 years. Lyn is a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She writes at www.confessionsofaformerbeautyqueen.com.

David was one of Israel's greatest kings. God chose him and anointed him king when he was just a boy. He lead Israel to victory over and over again against their enemies. He loved God. Passionately. Fiercely. And yet, he stumbled. Big time. More than once. In the season when kings would go to battle, David stayed home. One evening, as he was strolling along his rooftop, he sees a beautiful woman bathing. {Oops - it goes from bad worse.} They have an affair. Did I mention she's married? Then she gets pregnant with David's child. Then David has her husband murdered. I mean, it was a giant mess!

David got the girl in the end, but it came at a very big price. They lost their baby. There's a saying that says, "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay".

David had an even bigger crisis. He loved God. And God hates sin. That is the conflict that torments all of us. Of course, not all of us are adulterers or murderers, but sin has been plaguing us since Adam and Eve bought into the devil's marketing plan in the garden. We simply have a propensity towards it. But God, in His great love, reached across the chasm of sin that separated us from Him and sent His Son to save us from the penalty of sin and the power of sin. God made a way for us. Through Jesus.

My walk with the Lord has not been linear by any means. I have stumbled, fallen and, once or twice, jumped headlong into sin. The aftermath of those seasons was excruciating. At times I didn't think I could bear the weight of what I had done and then I leaned on these words, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". (1 John 1:9) There is a place for us to lay our burdens down. That's such good news.

When the prophet Nathan confronted King David about what he had done, David confessed that he had sinned against the Lord and he penned many of the words from the Psalms which we will pray today.

Father, I come to You this morning in humble reverence. O Lord, You know me. You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I rise, You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and You are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, O Lord, You know it all. (Psalm 139:1-4) Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there is any hurtful way in me and lead me in Your everlasting way. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Lord, You know my tendencies, my leanings, the things that grip me and have become like part of my anatomy. Fear. Anxiety. Despair. Doubt. Unbelief. Loose their grip on me and set me free. Help me in my unbelief. Gird me with Your strength (Psalm 18:32) Gird my mind with Your truth. Your Word is truth. (John 17:17)

Father, I seem to fall into trap after trap that the enemy of my soul lays out for me and I am such easy prey. Give me discernment. Teach me Your ways so that I don't fall for the false and counterfeit. When the enemy whispers lies in my ear, quicken me to know who is speaking and let me hear Your voice over the clamor of the enemy and the world. Give me ears to hear Your voice, O God. Let me not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, changed, by the renewing of my mind. (Romans 12:2)

Lord, I have a fickle heart. I am easily enticed to give myself to lesser things, lesser gods. I am prone to leave You time and time again. Father, fix my eyes on You. Turn away my eyes from worthless things. And revive me in Your ways. (Psalm 119:37) Set my affections on You and Your glory, for in Your presence there is fullness of joy and in Your right hand pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

Father, nothing in creation is hidden from Your sight but all things are open and laid bare before You. (Hebrews 4:13) Thank You that I can bring You all my brokenness and not only does it not surprise You, You welcome me because of Christ who gave Himself for me. I lay myself at Your feet asking that according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my sins. Wash me thoroughly from all my iniquity and cleanse me. (Psalm 51:1-2) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10) Cleanse me with the washing of the water with the Word. (Ephesians 5:26). Jesus, You are the Word made flesh (John 1:14) and it is in Your precious name I pray. Amen.

This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you struggle to find the words to pray.